4. Core Ingredients and Pantry Staples

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One of the most important things you’ll do as a cook is build out your pantry. I like to say that good cooking happens at the intersection of fresh produce and a well-stocked pantry. Most of the time, you’ll pick up fresh ingredients on a regular basis (things like meats, vegetables, fruits, eggs, dairy, etc) and then use what’s in your pantry to build those into exciting, flavorful dishes and full meals. When you have the right ingredients on hand, adding flavor and complexity becomes easy.

A well-stocked pantry should include ingredients that cover all of the basic building blocks of flavor— things like salt, fat, acidity, umami, and spice. We’ll dive into each of these categories in-depth in later lessons in the course, but here I’ll show you how to create a starter pantry that covers all of these profiles.

Building out your pantry is a gradual process, and ultimately it is a very personal thing. The ingredients that you keep in your kitchen will reflect your personal preferences, the meals you like to cook, and the flavor profiles you gravitate towards. If you cook a lot of Japanese food, for example, you’ll want to have soy sauce, mirin, sake, and miso. If you cook a lot of Mexican food you’ll want chile pastes, limes, dried chiles, and masa harina. For Thai food you might have dark soy sauce, toasted rice powder, palm sugar, and fish sauce. Many of these things are more cuisine-specific and may not apply to everyone. If you like those flavors, you can acquire those pantry items over time.

Getting started, however, is much more simple. You should think about your pantry in terms of two overarching categories:

1. Flavor Builders

You pantry should have items that cover all of the basic building blocks of flavor so that you can easily turn everyday items into flavorful complete dishes. You don’t need to overthink it— if you have salt, olive oil, and lemons, you can make most things taste delicious. If you have salt, some fats, some sources of acidity, a few spices, and some sauces and condiments that give you umami and spiciness, you’ll have a ton to work with.

2. Shelf Staples

In addition to your flavor builders, you should have some basic shelf-stable staples for complete meals. This includes things like grains (rice, pasta, flour, etc), canned goods (beans, tomatoes), and versatile items that make their way into most dishes like onions and garlic.

If you have these two categories covered, even with just a few basics, you’re ready to get started.

In this lesson I’ll offer both a minimalist pantry list, as well as a more complete list that you can work towards as you continue your cooking journey. This list doesn’t include many cuisine- specific specialty items— you should acquire those as you start to learn more about what you like to cook— but it includes plenty to work with!

As I mentioned before, a minimalist pantry will cover both your flavor builders and your shelf staples.

Here’s a simple checklist to get started:

In the section below, I’ll dive into each of these categories with a few additional details, as well as recommendations for brands I like!

Salt is the single most important ingredient in all of cooking, and it's the one thing that will touch everything you cook. That's why I think it's worth seeking out the best option you can find. We’ll cover this a lot more in-depth in the Using Salt lesson in the course!

Every home cook should have two different types of salt in their kitchen:

1. A salt with a medium-fine grind to use for everyday cooking
2. A flaky salt to use for finishing.

After salt, fat is the second most important pantry ingredient as it will touch nearly everything you cook. Again, this is something we’ll cover more in-depth in the Fats & Oils lesson later in the course. In that lesson I’ll provide a more broad overview of different fats, how to use them, and brand recommendations for each.

If you’re just getting started building out your pantry, the simplest way to start is with three basics:

• Olive Oil for everyday cooking
• Ghee, Beef Tallow, or Refined Avocado Oil for high-heat cooking
• Butter for low-heat cooking, baking, and certain sauces.

Acidity is an incredibly important component of cooking, so much so that there’s a whole lesson in this course dedicated to it. There are two primary forms of acidity that I use in my cooking— citrus (like lemons and limes) and vinegar.

I always keep lemons in my pantry, and I usually have a few vinegars. I like to keep at least one lighter vinegar (I prefer rice vinegar) for things like dressings and pickling, as well as a darker vinegar (I prefer sherry vinegar) when I want a little bit more depth of flavor. I also love balsamic, and I like to play around with different flavored vinegars.

These are the brands I recommend:

• Katz, American Vinegar Works, and O-Med for wine and fruit vinegars.
• The Japanese Pantry (specifically the Iio Jozo brand) and Sennari for rice vinegar.
• Lindera Farms, Tart, Acid League, and Keepwell for exceptional high-quality flavored vinegars.
• Villa Manodori for Balsamic Vinegar.

Spices are an essential part of any pantry, but they'll vary widely depending on the flavor profiles you gravitate towards.

Quality and freshness are two huge factors when it comes to spices. Spices degrade over time, so you want to buy from good producers who source them fresh. Instead of providing a list of specific spices to buy (since that varies a lot depending on what you cook), I've provided a list of my favorite reputable producers.

Also– I'm a huge fan of spice blends as an easy kitchen hack. You can easily add big flavor to a bunch of different dishes and explore various flavor profiles with almost no added effort. Most of these producers offer both individual spices and blends. If you’re just getting started, a few salt-free blends offer a ton of easy access to flavor and versatility.

• Burlap & Barrel (My personal favorite spice brand. I love all of their individual spices, and they make incredible blends).
• La Boite (Another favorite of mine with a specific focus on blends).
• Smith & Truslow
• Spicewalla
• Diaspora Co
• Boonville Barn

Sauces and condiments are powerful kitchen hacks because they tend to offer really easy access to concentrated flavor. These run the range of things like fats (mayo), umami (mustard, soy sauce, fish sauce), and spice (hot sauce, chile pastes).

• Mayo

A staple for making sauces and dressings– there's always a jar in my fridge. I highly recommend making your own as it’s quite easy and tastes better than anything you can buy at the store.

1. Chosen Foods
• Mustard

An easy addition to sauces and dressings that builds a lot of complexity and flavor.

1. Edmond Fallot
• Soy Sauce

Soy sauce is more than just a condiment for sushi– it's an umami booster that can make its way into a variety of different dishes.

1. The Japanese Pantry
• Fish Sauce

Fish sauce is a staple in my kitchen. On its own, it has an intense flavor and aroma that can feel overpowering. But a dash of it blends seamlessly into the background of sauces, dressings, soups, and stews while adding an incredible boost of umami.

1. Red Boat
2. Haku
• Hot Sauce

My love affair with hot sauces runs deep, and it’s one of the few things I always have in my fridge. I’m constantly trying out new brands and small producers. In all likelihood, there's a small hot sauce producer in your area doing cool things– find them!

1. Lindera Farms
2. Rancho Gordo
3. Hoff Sauce
4. Fix
• Chile Pastes

I always keep chile pastes on deck. Depending on your flavor preferences, this could be anything from Mexican-style adobo to gochujang, harissa, sambal oelek, and more. These add a nice pop of flavor to marinades, dressings, sauces, soups, braises, and so much more.

1. Frontera
2. Queens SF (my favorite source for gochujang and chojang)
3. NY Shuk
4. Zocalo

Dry and canned goods will help you take existing fresh items and produce and round those out into more complete meals.

• Pasta
• Seggiano (By far my favorite brand of dried pasta. Widely available and very high quality)
• Mancini
• Bionaturae
• Rice
• Lundberg
• Flour
• Anson Mills
• Barton Springs Mill
• Masa Harina
• Masienda
• Beans
• Rancho Gordo
• Tomato Sauce / Paste
• Bianco DiNapoli
• Bionaturae
• Bone Broth
• Kettle & Fire
• FOND
• Roli Roti

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